Merry

Looking Forward to Getting Older.

November 19, 2014 by Merry 1 Comment

In the last month I’ve discovered that the pain I have been struggling to overcome in my neck and shoulder for more than 15 years is in fact arthritis. An ultrasound and x-ray confirmed that my shoulder joint, collarbone and top of my spine are struggling to cope with the toll that ordinary movement has taken on them and I’m facing the prospect of the remainder of my life being about pain management of both bone and the muscles around that area rather than finding a fix.

I’m 40 and even though rationally I know that I’ve had this since I was 25 or so, I feel old and frightened by this breakdown in my body and its ability to care for itself. All those years of thinking I had time to get fitter, lose weight and improve health and diet have caught up with me in a huge wave of horror. 6 babies, a sedentary life and poor posture have combined to mean I’m now looking at discomfort long term and presumably eventually a life that has severely restricted movement.

I won’t lie, I find this desperately frightening.

I still feel like I’m waiting for my life to start. Having brought up the girls and with 15 years before Bene is an adult, there is still so much that I want to achieve and do and much of it depends on being able to walk moors, use my hands and sit or stand comfortably. I want to run and I want to stand straight and try new things. I don’t feel as if 40 should be the start of getting old. I don’t want to be toning down my new experiences and I’m realising that in order to make sure my body is up to it, I need to make some plans and give the future some thought.

It’s not that long since 40 really was the time when people settled back and waited for old age. That is no longer the case but if it is the time when our body might start to fail, or need extra care in order to make 50, 60 and 70 joyful, then so be it.

This is my guide to planning now for being older. This is my plan. It may be a little tongue in cheek 😉 (Because otherwise I may cry).

Decide on some hobbies that you’d like to see you through to old age and start hoarding. If you knit or crochet, start stashing yarn now just in case it turns out your pension won’t support an expensive yarn habit later in life. As the kids leave home, replace the contents of toy boxes with hobby materials and lie profusely if your partner calls you out on it.
Start accumulating stories of all the dreadful things your kids did, in written form, to tell your grandchildren. For one thing the book will be legendary, for a second it will mean you don’t forget them and thirdly (painfully) they can never be lost for good.
Move to your forever home with an eye to the room you’d like to be in on a regular basis. Make sure that whatever it has to be now, you’ve decorated or renovated it in preparation for the day it becomes YOURS to read in/knit in/or do OAP yoga in. It will save time later.
Hoard books on a Kindle that you love. Paper books are all very well but when you need to go back to your library on a Kindle, you can increase the text size without having to physically acknowledge the change in your eyesight by getting a large print book out.
Start saving for a stairlift. We all want to pretend we won’t need one but an awful lot of people do. I have happy memories of whizzing up and down the one fitted in a huge house with a sweeping staircase I visited as a child. If possible, also buy a house with a sweeping stairlift. And let your grandchildren play on it. They’ll love it and you’ll be the best nana ever.
Remember you can use the stairlift to knit on, read on and have a second ‘me’ room upstairs, ideal if you do a better than average job of hoarding yarn. And at £7.26 a year to run once it has been fitted, the stairlift running costs are significantly less than needing a storage container in the garden for craft supplies.
Learn to bake, if you haven’t already. To be honest, if there can’t be cake, I’m not sure getting old is worth it.
More seriously, make some small changes now. If you are already getting aches and pains, see someone and learn the ways of taking care of your body that will minimise later problems. I want to still be able to walk Dartmoor and go running in 10-15 years time and more but I now know that won’t happen unless I get some physio support and make sure I stay fit and able now so I can still do those things later.

The truth is, our lifestyles are changing how our bodies work and arthritis affects over 8,000,000 people in this country, mostly women. Take a moment to read this infographic and consider making some changes and planing ahead for how later life might affect you.

This post is in conjunction with Stannah.

Review: The Perfect Pamper Parcel.

November 18, 2014 by Merry 2 Comments

A few weeks ago I had a horrible day in which I was made to feel rubbish and worthless and vile by someone in the name of doing good. It wasn’t a nice feeling and, although I picked myself up again, it knocked my self esteem and courage for six for a few days. Seeing me sad, a lovely blogger friend with a new business decided to send me something to cheer me up. There were no strings attached and I didn’t have to write about her but her idea is so lovely, the gift she sent me so beautifully put together and the effect it had on me so perfect that I decided I would anyway.

Rosie is a blogger. She is also a busy working single mum, a writer and a marketeer and one of the loveliest people I have got to know through blogging and it was no surprise to start reading about her new business and see what a beautiful idea she has put together and just how very ‘Rosie’ it is. She came up with the concept while slogging in and out of London on the daily commuter grind; she reasoned that everyday life is hard work and we all need some down time, a pamper, a treat. Rosie came up with the concept of pamper parcels, ones you can gift to yourself or send to someone else – and the gorgeous thing about them is the brands she has chosen to work with. By picking carefully she champions other small businesses and values she holds dear, both giving back herself by these decisions and allowing purchasers to do the same.

We’re conscious about the impact to others of every item we include in our parcels. So we’ve opted for natural, organic and Fairtrade products from reputable companies we respect and value. We’re also, naturally, supportive of other independent businesses and include items from their businesses in our parcels too.

The parcel arrived in a gorgeously printed box (recycled material) and each item individually wrapped in tissue and pretty stickers and the box jam packed with fabulous treats. Being a brave girl (and not normally famed for my patience!) I made myself hold on and open the box in stages to prolong the fun.

I didn’t open it at all until I had my weeks work done.

Then I took each item out one by one and admired it.

Then I ate the popcorn (oh. my. goodness. yum.)

Then I opened one item after another, day by day.

Rosie had put such a lot of care into choosing items for me; the chocolate was divine, Tisserand is one of my favourite brands and the shower wash is just glorious and I’m still holding back the body lotion for a day when I need to feel particularly delightful.

The little envelope is particularly fabulous; the Pass It On concept is (apart from brilliant marketing 😉 ) a fab way to give a friend a treat from your treat. So powerful is the concept that I haven’t eaten that extra bit of chocolate and I know exactly who it is going to when I next see her.

Well done Rosie. You rock 🙂

If you are stuck for gifts this year, I highly recommend this little business. You can order personalised gift boxes on her extremely beautiful and slick website.

Disclosure: I know Rosie. She sent this to me for free. I didn’t have to review it as it was a gift. But I did, because it is fabulous.

Competition: Win 3 Christmas Hama Bead Kits from CraftMerrily.

November 14, 2014 by Merry 45 Comments

it’s that time of year… the tinsel is singing quietly from its box and you know, just know, that any minute now you are going to be humming carols. (Shhh, you at the back, I know you have already started!)

The kids are tied to the house at weekends because the weather has turned just dreadful and you need to find some festive cheer (I know I do, I wrote about it yesterday) and one thing you know will keep them quiet is some crafts.

Oh yes, it is time for the Hama Beads to come out. So in collaboration with my very own shop, I’m giving away this lovely bundle of top products to keep them (or possibly you!) quiet this winter.

There are lots of options to enter but only the top two are mandatory. Click on the picture above and it will open a new window so you can have a look at our range and see what you like. We’re a small business of 11 years old making our way determinedly in an increasingly tough online market and we’d massively appreciate it if you’d let people know about this giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms & Conditions.

Open to UK entrants only aged 18 and over.
Entry into this giveaway confirms that eligible participants are in acceptance of the terms and conditions set out below and in the Rafflecopter widget.
We reserve the right to accept entries where the wording of the tweet is not exactly as above, so long as all other criteria are met.
Entry is as per the Rafflecopter widget and is one per person, excepting daily tweeting. No bulk or third party entries accepted.
The competition ends at 12am 22th November, as per the widget.
Prize is 3 Christmas Hama Bead Kits from CraftMerrily as pictured above. The winner must disclose address for postage to MerrilyMe by 5pm 24th November 2014.
This giveaway is related to MerrilyMe and CraftMerrily only and not the responsibility of Facebook or other social media channels.

Editorial: Keeping Safe from Carbon Monoxide.

November 14, 2014 by Merry Leave a Comment

The request to post this information came at a time when I was ruefully realising that our boiler service slot has come and gone again and I’m late organising it. The small £20 monitor we have been sent could save the life of an entire family and could be the difference between vulnerable young children waking up in the morning or never doing so again. Please consider buying one.

***

There’s a silent killer on the loose that claims 40 lives every year in Britain and puts 200 others in hospital. It sounds like something from a horror film – but this is carbon monoxide and it’s very real.

Worryingly, this colourless, odourless and tasteless gas can be inhaled by you and your family without even knowing it. It’s produced by household appliances such as boilers, cookers, fires and heaters – and if one of those has a leak, the results could be deadly. A blocked flue or chimney can also cause the levels of CO to rise in the home.

Symptoms to be aware of are headaches, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness, leading to collapse and loss of consciousness. Most deaths that occur by carbon monoxide poisoning are at night when people are asleep in their beds. It is scary – but there are ways to protect yourself.

Safety advice is that all your appliances must be checked regularly by a Gas Safe Registered engineer.

If you suspect there is a leak in your home, open all doors and windows and get all people and pets out of the house as quickly as possible.

A carbon monoxide detector in your home could also be a lifesaver.

Boiler and central heating cover company CORGI HomePlan is currently campaigning for every home to have one of these simple little white boxes. They are relatively cheap (£30) and work as an early warning system similar to a smoke detector.

They work all around the home and can be taken with you on camping trips or caravan holidays as a number of deaths occur each year from portable barbecues and poorly maintained gas equipment in caravans.

CORGI HomePlan has produced a microsite dedicated to home safety tips – www.corgi-homeplan-how-safe-is-your-home.org – which is a great resource of advice covering all gas and electrical appliances in the home.

There are easy to follow tips and ‘how to’ videos to give you peace of mind as we come into the colder weather when boilers are being switched on across the country again.

It’s such a simple decision to get a carbon monoxide detector that no home should really be without one.

Disclosure: we were gifted a Carbon Monoxide monitor in exchange for this post. Please do take notice of the message, it is so important.

Creative: Tired.

November 13, 2014 by Merry 1 Comment

The end of the day.

Shouting stops, taxi service ends, the meals are eaten and the quiet purr of the dishwasher, punctuated by occasional sloshes, is the only noise left. Downstairs, the detritus of the day is strewn across the corridor, the kitchen perfunctorily cleaned, the door locked and the car remains a crumb filled carcass of its former self, packed to the gills with forgotten bags, shoes kicked off by tired feet and coats that will be hunted for frantically come morning. The lights are off, or glow dimly in the room where one of four bulbs still work and the time to replace them, or perhaps the inclination, has not yet occurred. The carpet – so recently vacuumed – carries the marks and mess of an ordinary family day; AstroTurf pellets sprinkled out of socks and trainers, a half eaten biscuit trodden in and not removed, packaging ripped from a much desired purchase and dropped where they stood.

Clattering, bickering, tired and dragging the bags, folders and armfuls of kit and coats that have become essential for their day, the kids have bundled themselves upstairs, bathroom door banging, tap left running (it needs replacing but when to find the time?) laundry discarded on the floor where tomorrow the wailing will commence as incomprehensibly it is too crumpled to wear again without the torture of using the iron. The lights flick off, the ‘one last drink’ is drunk and the youngest trails back upstairs to try again to find some way to sleep.

Lying down in the dark might help.

And peace descends. The living room softly lit enough to hide the homework strewn on the desk that in a Pinterest world would lightly tell the story of the woman who worked there, the sofa hastily buffeted and shaken, protective cloth tucked in, to give a semblance of serenity. And the toys are kicked under the table with a mental promise to do messy play tomorrow and spend less time on phone and screen, to do the things that find the joy and bring the smiles and make the moment count before childhood is all sucked up in rush and growl and fleeting chat as kid and gym kit jump from car to club.

And suddenly… silence. Too tired to talk, parents slump on Chesterfield sofa, propped up by late night coffee cupped in hands to tired to touch and stroke, explore or love. Slump is what they do, shoulder to shoulder, a rueful look at each other, wondering where the days of evenings of conversation, passion, creativity went? When there was still energy at half past nine to make and do, invent, play. How did the sofa, silence, book in hand, blanket made in freer times tucked around the knees and companionable friendship become an fleeting evening joy too good to miss? When did a few rows of knitting become a job well done, a worthy payment for a day fraught with other peoples’ needs? When did sofa, restful, soft, moulding to their backs, become a more inviting embrace than a lovers tumble?

They are tired. So very tired. And sleep, which ought to help, only seems to rob them of the time to rest.

Disclosure: this post is in collaboration with the company mentioned within the post.